Forbes list of the world's highest-paid athletes

This is a list of the highest-paid athletes in the world as ranked by Forbes magazine.

2026 list The 2026 list: RankName SportCountryTotalSalary/winningsEndorsements 1 Cristiano RonaldoAssociation football Portugal$300 million $235 million $65 million 2 Canelo ÁlvarezBoxing Mexico$170 million $160 million $10 million 3 Lionel MessiAssociation football Argentina$140 million $70 million $70 million 4 LeBron JamesBasketball United States$137.8 million $52.8 million $85 million 5 Shohei OhtaniBaseball Japan$127.6 million $2.6 million $125 million 6 Stephen CurryBasketball United States$124.7 million $59.7 million $65 million 7 Jon RahmGolf Spain$107 million $97 million $10 million 8 Karim BenzemaAssociation football France$104 million $100 million $4 million 9 Kevin DurantBasketball United States$103.8 million $54.8 million $49 million 10 Lewis HamiltonAuto racing United Kingdom$100 million $70 million $30 million

2025 list The 2025 list: RankName SportCountryTotalSalary/winningsEndorsements 1 Cristiano RonaldoAssociation football Portugal$275 million $225 million $50 million 2 Stephen CurryBasketball United States$156 million $56 million $100 million 3 Tyson FuryBoxing United Kingdom$146 million $140 million $6 million 4 Dak PrescottAmerican football United States$137 million $127 million $10 million 5 Lionel MessiAssociation football Argentina$135 million $60 million $75 million 6 LeBron JamesBasketball United States$133.8 million $48.8 million $85 million 7 Juan SotoBaseball Dominican Republic$114 million $109 million $5 million 8 Karim BenzemaAssociation football France$104 million $100 million $4 million 9 Shohei OhtaniBaseball Japan$102.5 million $2.5 million $100 million 10 Kevin DurantBasketball United States$101.4 million $51.4 million $50 million

2024 list The 2024 list: RankName SportCountryTotalSalary/winningsEndorsements 1 Cristiano RonaldoAssociation football Portugal$260 million $200 million $60 million 2 Jon RahmGolf Spain$218 million $198 million $20 million 3 Lionel MessiAssociation football Argentina$135 million $65 million $70 million 4 LeBron JamesBasketball United States$128.2 million $48.2 million $80 million 5 Giannis AntetokounmpoBasketball Greece$111 million $46 million $65 million 6 Kylian MbappéAssociation football France$110 million $90 million $20 million 7 NeymarAssociation football Brazil$108 million $80 million $28 million 8 Karim BenzemaAssociation football France$106 million $100 million $6 million 9 Stephen CurryBasketball United States$102 million $52 million $50 million 10 Lamar JacksonAmerican football United States$100.5 million $98.5 million $2 million

2023 list The 2023 list: RankName SportCountryTotalSalary/winningsEndorsements 1 Cristiano RonaldoAssociation football Portugal$136 million $46 million $90 million 2 Lionel MessiAssociation football Argentina$130 million $65 million $65 million 3 Kylian MbappéAssociation football France$120 million $100 million $20 million 4 LeBron JamesBasketball United States$119.5 million $44.5 million $75 million 5 Canelo ÁlvarezBoxing Mexico$110 million $100 million $10 million 6 Dustin JohnsonGolf United States$107 million $102 million $5 million 7 Phil MickelsonGolf United States$106 million $104 million $2 million 8 Stephen CurryBasketball United States$100.4 million $48.4 million $52 million 9 Roger FedererTennis Switzerland$95.1 million $0.1 million $95 million 10 Kevin DurantBasketball United States$89.1 million $44.1 million $45 million

2022 list The 2022 list: RankNameSportCountryTotalSalary/winningsEndorsements 1 Lionel MessiAssociation football Argentina$130 million $75 million $55 million 2 LeBron JamesBasketball United States$121.2 million $41.2 million $80 million 3 Cristiano RonaldoAssociation football Portugal$115 million $60 million $55 million 4 NeymarAssociation football Brazil$95 million $70 million $25 million 5 Stephen CurryBasketball United States$92.8 million $45.8 million $47 million 6 Kevin DurantBasketball United States$92.1 million $42.1 million $50 million 7 Roger FedererTennis Switzerland$90.7 million $0.7 million $90 million 8 Canelo ÁlvarezBoxing Mexico$90 million $85 million $5 million 9 Tom BradyAmerican football United States$83.9 million $31.9 million $52 million 10 Giannis AntetokounmpoBasketball Greece$80.9 million $39.9 million $41 million

2021 list The 2021 list: RankNameSportCountryTotalSalary/winningsEndorsements 1 Conor McGregorMixed martial arts Republic of Ireland $180 million $22 million $158 million 2 Lionel MessiAssociation football Argentina$130 million $97 million $33 million 3 Cristiano RonaldoAssociation football Portugal$120 million $70 million $50 million 4 Dak PrescottAmerican football United States$107.5 million $97.5 million $10 million 5 LeBron JamesBasketball United States$96.5 million $31.5 million $65 million 6 NeymarAssociation football Brazil$95 million $76 million $19 million 7 Roger FedererTennis Switzerland$90 million $0.03 million $90 million 8 Lewis HamiltonAuto racing United Kingdom$82 million $70 million $12 million 9 Tom BradyAmerican football United States$76 million $45 million $31 million 10 Kevin DurantBasketball United States$75 million $31 million $44 million

2020 list The 2020 list: RankNameSportCountryTotalSalary/winningsEndorsements 1 Roger FedererTennis Switzerland$106.3 million $6.3 million $100 million 2 Cristiano RonaldoAssociation football Portugal$105 million $60 million $45 million 3 Lionel MessiAssociation football Argentina$104 million $72 million $32 million 4 NeymarAssociation football Brazil$95.5 million $70.5 million $25 million 5 LeBron JamesBasketball United States$88.2 million $28.2 million $60 million 6 Stephen CurryBasketball United States$74.4 million $30.4 million $44 million 7 Kevin DurantBasketball United States$63.9 million $28.9 million $35 million 8 Tiger WoodsGolf United States$62.3 million $2.3 million $60 million 9 Kirk CousinsAmerican football United States$60.5 million $58 million $2.5 million 10 Carson WentzAmerican football United States$59.1 million $55.1 million $4 million

2010–2019 list The 2010–2019 list: RankNameSportNationEarnings 1 Floyd Mayweather Jr.Boxing United States$915 million 2 Cristiano RonaldoAssociation football Portugal$800 million 3 Lionel MessiAssociation football Argentina$750 million 4 LeBron JamesBasketball United States$680 million 5 Roger FedererTennis Switzerland$640 million 6 Tiger WoodsGolf United States$615 million7Phil MickelsonGolf United States$480 million8Manny PacquiaoBoxing Philippines$435 million 9 Kevin DurantBasketball United States$425 million 10 Lewis HamiltonAuto racing United Kingdom$400 million

2019 list The 2019 list: RankNameSport NationTotal Salary/WinningsEndorsements 1 Lionel Messi Association football Argentina $127 million $92 million $35 million 2 Cristiano Ronaldo Association football Portugal $109 million $65 million $44 million 3 Neymar Association football Brazil $105 million $75 million $30 million 4 Canelo Álvarez Boxing Mexico $94 million $92 million $2 million 5 Roger Federer Tennis Switzerland $93.4 million $7.4 million $86 million 6 Russell Wilson American football United States $89.5 million $80.5 million $9 million 7 Aaron Rodgers American football United States $89.3 million $80.3 million $9 million 8 LeBron James Basketball United States $89 million $36 million $53 million 9 Stephen Curry Basketball United States $79.8 million $37.8 million $42 million 10 Kevin Durant Basketball United States $65.4 million $30.4 million $35 million

2018 list The 2018 list: RankNameSport NationTotal Salary/WinningsEndorsements 1 Floyd Mayweather Jr. Boxing United States $285 million $275 million $10 million 2 Lionel Messi Association football Argentina $111 million $84 million $27 million 3 Cristiano Ronaldo Association football Portugal $108 million $61 million $47 million 4 Conor McGregor Mixed martial arts Republic of Ireland $99 million $85 million $14 million 5 Neymar Association football Brazil $90 million $73 million $17 million 6 LeBron James Basketball United States $85.5 million $33.5 million $52 million 7 Roger Federer Tennis Switzerland $77.2 million $12.2 million $65 million 8 Stephen Curry Basketball United States $76.9 million $34.9 million $42 million 9 Matt Ryan American football United States $67.3 million $62.3 million $5 million 10 Matthew Stafford American football United States $59.5 million $57.5 million $2 million

2017 list The 2017 list: RankNameSport NationTotal Salary/WinningsEndorsements 1 Cristiano Ronaldo Association football Portugal $93 million $58 million $35 million 2 LeBron James Basketball United States $86.2 million $31.2 million $55 million 3 Lionel Messi Association football Argentina $80 million $53 million $27 million 4 Roger Federer Tennis Switzerland $64 million $6 million $58 million 5 Kevin Durant Basketball United States $60.6 million $26.6 million $34 million 6 Andrew Luck American football United States $50 million $47 million $3 million 6 Rory McIlroy Golf Northern Ireland $50 million $16 million $34 million 8 Stephen Curry Basketball United States $47.3 million $12.3 million $35 million 9 James Harden Basketball United States $46.6 million $26.6 million $20 million 10 Lewis Hamilton Auto racing United Kingdom $46 million $38 million $8 million

2016 list The 2016 list: Rank Name Sport Nation Total Salary/Winnings Endorsements 1 Cristiano Ronaldo Association football Portugal $88 million $56 million $32 million 2 Lionel Messi Association football Argentina $81.4 million $53.4 million $28 million 3 LeBron James Basketball United States $77.2 million $23.2 million $54 million 4 Roger Federer Tennis Switzerland $67.8 million $7.8 million $60 million 5 Kevin Durant Basketball United States $56.2 million $20.2 million $36 million 6 Novak Djokovic Tennis Serbia $55.8 million $21.8 million $34 million 7 Cam Newton American football United States $53.1 million $41.1 million $12 million 8 Phil Mickelson Golf United States $52.9 million $2.9 million $50 million 9 Jordan Spieth Golf United States $52.8 million $20.8 million $32 million 10 Kobe Bryant Basketball United States $50 million $25 million $25 million

2015 list The 2015 list was released on 10 June 2015.

Rank Name Sport Nation Total Salary/Winnings Endorsements 1 Floyd Mayweather Jr. Boxing United States $300 million $285 million $15 million 2 Manny Pacquiao Boxing Philippines $160 million $148 million $12 million 3 Cristiano Ronaldo Association football Portugal $79.6 million $52.6 million $27 million 4 Lionel Messi Association football Argentina $73.8 million $51.8 million $22 million 5 Roger Federer Tennis Switzerland $67 million $9 million $58 million 6 LeBron James Basketball United States $64.8 million $20.8 million $44 million 7 Kevin Durant Basketball United States $54.1 million $19.1 million $35 million 8 Phil Mickelson Golf United States $50.8 million $2.8 million $48 million 9 Tiger Woods Golf United States $50.6 million $0.6 million $50 million 10 Kobe Bryant Basketball United States $49.5 million $23.5 million $26 million

2014 list The 2014 list was released on 11 June 2014.

Rank Name Sport Nation Total Salary/Winnings Endorsements 1 Floyd Mayweather Jr. Boxing United States $105 million $105 million $0 2 Cristiano Ronaldo Association football Portugal $80 million $52 million $28 million 3 LeBron James Basketball United States $72.3 million $19.3 million $53 million 4 Lionel Messi Association football Argentina $64.7 million $41.7 million $23 million 5 Kobe Bryant Basketball United States $61.5 million $30.5 million $31 million 6 Tiger Woods Golf United States $61.2 million $6.2 million $55 million 7 Roger Federer Tennis Switzerland $56.2 million $4.2 million $52 million 8 Phil Mickelson Golf United States $53.2 million $5.2 million $48 million 9 Rafael Nadal Tennis Spain $44.5 million $14.5 million $30 million 10 Matt Ryan American football United States $43.8 million $42 million $1.8 million